The Roman Road to Salvation

Each year the material for the 5th and 6th grade Sunday school class I teach, circles around to a lesson on sharing one's testimony, usually using 1 Peter 3:15-16 as the memory verse for the week.

15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.(NIV)

I love "testimony Sunday", as I have come to think of it, because it works for both the saved, and any unsaved children in the class.  It presents an easy opportunity to share the Gospel with the ones who don't already know it, and it allows the children who are saved already a chance to see how easy sharing their faith can be.

Our church uses the Southern Baptist, LifeWay curriculum, which teaches children the ABCs of becoming a Christian - Admit, and turn away from your sin, Believe that Jesus is God's son sent to pay the penalty for sin, and Confess, or tell others about your faith (click here to find the verses to go along with each letter).  My students suggested adding a "D" for "seek Discipleship" - pretty clever, if you ask me.

Of course, there's always the Wordless Book approach, which I've posted about in the past, as well.

But, my favorite tool for walking a Sunday school class of 5th and 6th graders through the salvation plan is the "Roman's Road to Salvation".  Basically it's just a collection of of verses from the book of Romans (3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-10, 10:13, 10:17) , that lay out nicely the steps (or road) to salvation, with a catchy bit of wordplay in the title, referring to the road building efforts of the Roman Empire, to make it easy to remember where to find all the verses.

I like to print each verse out on a piece of construction paper cut to look like a stepping stone (like in the picture at the top of the post).  Then, I can lay the "stones" out on the floor, and invite each student in the class to walk the path as they review each step - admitting they are sinners, that the penalty for sin is death (meaning the second death, or lake of fire), that Jesus paid the death penalty for us with His death on the cross, that it is a gift and we can do nothing to earn it except to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and tell others about His gift for us, that all can come to Him no matter who they are, or where they are in life, and that once we've accepted His gift then we should begin studying His word and growing in Him.

The Teen Missions website adds a question, that each verse along the path might answer, and has all the questions and verses in a printable bookmark format, that is very handy.  I added their questions to our path this year...

...as road blocks along the way.  Then, I had two children walk the path together, one playing the part of "a saint" (meaning saved), the other the part of "a seeker".

As they approached the path, they met with the first road block - read by the "seeker".

Then, the "saint" turned their friend to the side, to the first stone, and read the verse in answer.

After each stone was a road block, that forced the pair to turn to the side, to the next stone, in order to follow the path, making for a narrow, and winding road to salvation.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

It's great to be a Sunday School Teacher!